A Study on Nature Resource Management System for Ecotourism Practices

생태관광 실천을 위한 자원관리시스템에 관한 연구 -일본 이리오모떼섬을 대상으로-

This study aimed to provide data for establishment of resource management system of Iriomote Island in Okinawa Japan. Nature resource management system of Iriomote Island can be categorized into eight stages which are equivalent to regional development stages. 1) Networking among local people, tourists, researchers, tour operators and government authorities enhanced collection of resource data. 2) On the early stage, resource data were available only to researchers and government authorities. From the third stage of this system, however, local people were also involved in resource investigation, so they became to well recognize the values of their local resources. 3) On the sixth stage, data on unfamiliar local resources and attractions became to be known to people by real-time data collection and data provision services. The tourist number gradually increased and their visitation patterns were dispersed into different sites and seasons. In addition, some tourists also participated in resource investigation and they were likely to visit the place again. 4) To achieve successful ecotourism development, it is necessary to establish a management system with a feed-back process to identify, evaluate, use and protect the resources.